'Can you bring the dead back to life?' Bombay HC to striking doctors; stir called off
The Bombay High Court on Thursday sternly told Maharashtra's resident doctors that their strike was endangering patients' lives, and asked whether they could bring back those who might die during the agitation. The court's observations came during a suo motu hearing on the indefinite strike launched by the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) on Wednesday.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad expressed deep concern over the impact of the strike on patients across the state. “We are concerned about the health of thousands of patients as well as the people of Maharashtra,” the bench said. It questioned the doctors' decision to strike, asking, “Why are you resorting to a strike at the cost of patients? Even if your agitation succeeds tomorrow, will you be able to bring back the lives of patients who may have died during the strike? Can the protesting doctors bring the dead back to life?”
The court also took note of the doctors' threat to suspend services in intensive care units if the deadlock with the state government continued. Following the court's strong observations, MARD and the Indian Medical Association announced that the strike would be called off.
The bench appointed senior counsel Vineet Naik and advocate Amogh Singh as amici curiae to assist the court, and directed them to prepare a petition so that appropriate directions could be issued to prevent doctors from resorting to such strikes in the future. The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 8.
The strike was in protest against the Maharashtra government's decision to allow homoeopaths to register with the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) and prescribe allopathic medicines. On June 30, the MMC issued a notification permitting homoeopaths who complete a six-month Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology to prescribe modern medicines.
Advocate General Milind Sathe told the court that in an interim order passed last year, the high court had declined to stay the registration of eligible homoeopaths with the MMC, and that the petition challenging the move remains pending. The court assured the doctors that the bench hearing the pending petition would take up the matter and decide it expeditiously.
The development brings temporary relief to patients who were facing disruption in medical services across Maharashtra. However, the underlying dispute over the role of homoeopaths in prescribing allopathic drugs remains unresolved, and the high court has sought to frame guidelines to prevent future strikes by doctors.
